Nothing To Hide
by ForeverForNow
Summary: AU, AH, Set in a boarding school our favourite characters are normal humans, just trying to fit in. Story is much better than this summary. Contains Magnus/Alec, Jace/Kaelie/Clary, and some minor characters including Simon and Eric. Rating may go up..
1. Chapter 1

When Alexander Lightwood opened the door to his small- yet treasured- second-hand car, grabbed his keys and bag, and stepped out onto the dirty gravel ground that was Alicante Academy for The Gifted's driveway, he couldn't help but stare. At the giant, literally two-storey high fountain, with the Angel and her cup, in the centre of the roundabout his car was currently resting on. He stared at the massive, ancient-looking boarding house looming ahead of him, though somehow it managed to look modern while still looking old.

The stained marble steps were framed with glittering glass walls, and the age-old balconies in front of what Alec could only assume was each dorm room each had metallic-looking railings. There were entire extensions of the place made entirely of glass-domed rooms. He stared at the forest situated all around the campus, and the –was that _real _silver?- ten-foot gates that separated the two. Alec stared at the few people he could see- all in uniform, and all kind of… glamorous-looking. Not one of them had a dipped head, or awkward pace. They were all perceivably perfect.

The last thing that Alec stared at was not something new to him, however. Nor was it a _thing._ Alec stared at his adoptive brother; Jace, before handing his keys to the chauffeur waiting patiently by his side. His best friend- and long-time crush- had a look of awe, much similar to the look he had had last year, when he had first come to the Academy. You see, Jace was not like the beautiful buildings, the sweeping forests, or the glittering water in the fountain. He was the most beautiful thing, aside from his sister- but that was different, that Alec had ever laid eyes upon.

From the way his muscles rippled under his perfectly golden skin as he lifted bags out of Alec's car- to the gentle rustle in his yellow-gold hair from the slight breeze- Jace Herondale was the definition of beauty, and he was also the precise opposite to Alec. He thought of himself as pale and sickly-looking, with permanent shadows under his too-bright eyes, being just a little too tall for his weight, therefore lanky and awkward. His teeth were too straight, his hair was too dull, and his personality was just a joke. But he preferred things this way. Because if he weren't ugly, and unnoticed, then Alec would have a harder time trying to hide his longing looks, disgustingly tragic nervousness, and overall _want _for his god of an adoptive-brother. He wasn't natural, and definitely wasn't proud of it. Nobody knew that Alec was gay. Well, he guessed that Isabelle _knew, _but she had never mentioned it. Fate had so far been kind to him, in his eyes.

He tried not to stare at Jace as he trudged along up the stairs behind him, hauling his luggage up to the large entrance of the boarding school. It was his second year at the Academy, seeing as he was turning nineteen this year, but Jace was only still seventeen. It had to be your eighteenth year for you to attend the school, and even then, you had to have the brains and the connections to get in. Alec had next to no friends here, apart from his room-mate, Kyle, his best friend Simon and Simon's room-mate and fellow band member, Eric. He had promised that this year he would try- put in at least a little bit of effort to meet some new people. But Alec had his doubts. He was glad that Jace was finally joining him here, though a year apart, which meant that they would share no classes, Alec was grateful that he could spend his breaks with him.

"Who's that old bag?" Jace muttered under his breath, nudging Alec sharply in the ribs.  
>"Her? That's the Headmaster's assistant, Professor Aldertree. She is married to the Head of Sports, Mr. Aldertree himself. You'll most likely see your fair share of him, I assume." Alec chuckled softly to himself. Jace was sure to just <em>love <em>the ridiculous teacher.  
>"Who's the Headmaster then, if <em>she's <em>just the assistant?" Alec quickly scanned the room. It was full of all the first-years, like Jace, the newcomers. There were also quite a few older kids, who were transferring into later years. One in particular caught Alec's gaze, just for a moment. A splash of colour, a head taller than the rest.. and sparkling green eyes. But it was gone as soon as it had come, and Alec dismissed it as his imagination. He finally spotted the Headmaster, standing tall and foreboding by the stairway to the boys' wing. Alec pointed, and Jace whistled under his breath.  
>"Wouldn't want to get on his bad side, eh brother?" Alec grimaced.<br>"Professor Morgenstern is.. harsh. Be careful with him, Jace. This isn't like High School, where Mr. Garroway let you off on everything. Morgenstern means business."  
>"Pfft, what's a little harm in having some fun? You ought to try it every now and again, come to think of it."<br>Alec proceeded to ignore the arrogant blonde's comment. "Come on, let's see where you're rooming." Alec grabbed Jace's sleeve and hauled him over to the giant registration board.  
>"H.. h… uh, here! Found it. Jonathan Herondale, dorm four, room.. sixty-two." Alec glanced at Jace, who was staring over his shoulder at a group of girls giggling in the corner of the room.<br>"Jace," He glanced up at Alec. "You're down the hall from me. Let's go before my arm drops off. This luggage has suddenly become much heavier than I remember, after spending the holidays with Isabelle around…"  
>"Lead the way, dear brother of mine." Alec hid his flinch at the word <em>brother <em>and turned without a word to the boys' wing. He didn't even check to see if Jace had followed him.

The stairs were a pain, but it was well worth it when they reached their dorm level. "So, the first floor is the Common room, there's tv, couches, video games.. then the second floor has the library and study area. The third, fourth, fifth and sixth floors are dorms, and the seventh is a gym. The room is off-limits to first years, but I like it up there. It's peaceful, quite, and has a great view." Jace simply nodded at the information, and looked down all the corridors they passed. "Are these originals?" He gestured to the paintings decorating said corridors, and Alec laughed.  
>"You bet they are. Worth more than the grounds themselves, I'd assume." Jace grinned towards the ceiling.<br>"Are we almost there? My ego is getting tired, and I want to dump my stuff so I can scope out the.. uh, _other _wings." He winked lazily at Alec, who felt his face heat up.  
>"No, Jace! You can't. It's absolutely forbidden for boys to even go <em>near <em>the girls' wing. One guy last year was sleep-walking, and accidently used their bathroom, and.. well, let's just say nobody is in contact with him anymore. Word is his family moved South."  
>Jace blanched. He was so not expecting that. "<em>Seriously? <em>But man, did you see how many cute chicks were out there today?" Alec blushed again, but said nothing. He definitely hadn't.  
>At least Jace didn't seem to be expecting an answer, so they walked on in slightly uncomfortable silence for a while, until Alec paused at the sixtieth corridor. He sighed, and patted Jace on the shoulder.<br>"Well, this is your stop. Just the second door on the left. I'm in ninety-six, so just down there." Alec pointed the direction. "Good luck with the room-mate. I'll see you for dinner, okay? Meet me out here when the bell sounds." Jace nodded, and left. Alec was left standing there for a moment, before making his way to his own room. Opening the door, he was assaulted by the rapid fire of a loaded nerf gun. Dropping his bags and throwing his arms up to defend himself, with a yell, Alec was greeted by an excited-looking Kyle.

Way to start the year, he thought glumly.

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><p><strong>So, this is my new fic.. I really hope I actually stay motivated for it. All rights belong to Cassie Clare. there's not much Isabelle in this, sorry.. but she's underage, and Clary will be rare too. I hope you like the idea, please review :)<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

2

(Clary's POV)

Today was my first day at the Academy. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, but my best friend Simon already attended, and had told me a little about the place during the holidays. I felt as though I would handle the transition with ease, but that was before I actually arrived.

This place is bloody INSANE. Not even ten minutes after I walked in, and I'm getting told off! Apparently dropping oil pastels onto the floor and not realising is against the rules. It isn't my fault that my hair is so curly it blocks all peripherals!

I left Simon with his weird friend, Eric, and his best friend (apart from me, he says) Kyle. Kyle was saying something about pranking an 'Alec' and had disappeared before I could ask questions. Anyway, I made friends with this new guy today, he was in the year above me, but he was really interested in my art. He kept asking me which paint I found easier to mix colours with. He seemed like he knew his stuff, so I let him arrange my paints in this weird, yet cool, colour co-ordinating way. His hair and clothes were colourful enough that I trusted he would do a good job. Hmm, I never got his name- maybe I should ask next time I see him.

After that he seemed a little distracted by something, and I didn't even notice him leave. But it was okay, because that's when I saw the one. He was like a beam of sunshine, striding into the room as if he owned the place, all golden hair and eyes and sparkling smile. He was gorgeous! I literally had to work to shut my mouth and stop drooling. He flicked his hair nonchalantly, and took off his aviators. He was truly a sex god. I made it my personal mission to stalk and obtain this guy.

I looked around me, and all I saw was a sea of faces. I was vaguely aware of Simon saying something, then all of a sudden there he was. Right in front of me.

"Hey! Simon, right? Jace. I think I saw you with Alec when we came to pick him up last year." He stuck out one perfect hand, and my awkward best friend stepped forward to shake it. For some reason I found myself being jealous as they shook.

"Yeah, well, you do look a little familiar I guess. You're his brother?" Jace (What an attractive name!) laughed. It sounded like honey and sunshine and everything good in the world.

"Adoptive." He snorted, running a hand through his golden locks. "And of course you'd remember me, I mean, how many times a day do you lay eyes on such a great bod?" Simon paled and quickly dropped his hand, mumbling something about germs and sanitisers.

"Hi I'm Clary!" I practically screamed at him, and I stuck my hand right into his face. Oh my god! How embarrassing, Clary! I can't believe I did that!

He seemed to see me for the first time, and he smiled. He smiled at me. I nearly swooned! He gently took my hand and pressed his lips to it.

"Nice to meet you, Clary. I'm Jace." I could barely hear him over the sound of my freaking out about the fact that his lips had touched my skin. He practically kissed me!

To say I was speechless would be an understatement. Jace and Simon talked for a while, and I hung back. I was too busy imagining things about Jace that I would rather not slip out during conversation to focus. Jace soon left, claiming something about having to check on his psycho room-mate, Jonathan, who claimed that his name was really Sebastian, and was currently dying his white-blond hair black in Jace's sink. I couldn't help but feel lucky that my room-mate was relatively normal.

I had taken the time to look up her records before leaving, so I already knew who she was, what she was studying, and what she looked like. Her name was Maia, she was tanned and very curvy. She was studying to be a US Marine, and she looked like the job would suit. I had been a little scared to meet her, because I'm always intimidated by good-looking girls, but now that I'd gotten in first with Jace (cue heart-flutters) I was feeling more smug than jealous.

Shrugging to myself, I finally turned back to Simon, who had apparently given up on me and was talking band names with Eric. To include myself back into the conversation, I listened to one suggestion and jumped in.

"Squid Overlanders? Are you trying to promote submarines or something?"

They turned to me and started arguing immediately about whether submarines were cool or not. Oh well, at least my plan worked.

(Not Clary's POV anymore)

Alec was normally meticulous about his personal area. Back at the Lightwood Manor, he would forever be cleaning his room, dusting the bare shelves and straightening his bed sheets. These things were all second nature to him, like putting clothes on would be for a normal person. He was especially good at organising his clothes, as there were so few of them, and they all looked so painfully alike. But this did not apply at the Academy. It could be a combination of the fact that the few possessions Kyle owns that aren't toys are always strewn haphazardly around his side of the room, the amount of homework he had to do each night, and the fact that Maryse didn't inhabit the school, or it could be something else entirely.

Whatever the reason, at The Academy, Alec left his room in a rather dismal state at the best of times. As soon as he had convinced Kyle to put away his foam gun, he just dumped his bags onto his bed and headed for the bathroom. What he wanted was a warm shower before dinner, to relax a little from the long drive. He made sure to triple check the door was locked before he stripped down to nothing, took a hesitant look in the mirror, and stepped into the heavy stream of water.

He felt as though most of his worries were being carried down the drain, along with whatever makeup had gotten onto him when Izzy had hugged the daylights out of him while crying. (That girl did not wear water-proof mascara, that much Alec did understand) He sighed and blocked out all images of his distraught sister. He knew she was nearly old enough to attend, but that still didn't stop the anxiety that came when he thought of her, here, with all of these boys. He suppressed a shudder as he shut off the tap and stepped out, wrapping a towel around himself.

He could hear the sounds coming from outside the bathroom, and Kyle was obviously watching tv. Alec had never been one for electronics, preferring a good book and a cup of coffee to a movie and popcorn any day. Stepping into his old faded jeans and navy blue sweater, Alec took one last rueful look at himself in the mirror and entered his room. Sure enough, there was Kyle, pop tart on his lap, remote in his hand. Alec glanced at the Batman clock above Kyle's bed.

"Fifteen minutes 'til dinner, Kyle. I'm going to head down now, you know I like fist choice of the foods. See you later." Kyle grunted and waved Alec away, who gladly left.

Making his was down to the dinner hall, he thought he saw that same flash of colour as before, but when he stopped and went back to see what it was, there was nothing. He scratched his head in confusion, but continued down anyway. The hall was already filling with students, and Alec headed to the line. This was one part of dorm life that Alec wasn't looking forward to reliving. The awkward stares of his fellow students as he made his way to an empty table, and the feeling of loneliness that accompanied being weird and almost friendless. He just had to hope that Jace would find him before he found better company.

He was almost halfway to the buffet when he felt something tap his shoulder.

"Excuse me?"

The person's voice was deep and smooth, male and slightly accented. There was a lilt to his vowels that Alec found endearing, and dare he say it, rather sexy. Whirling around, he was met with green-gold eyes, half scrutinising, half something else, that Alec couldn't quite determine. He froze in shock.

"I'm new here, do you think you could help me find somewhere to sit?"

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><p>Ooh, Cliffy :P Haha, just a small chapter again, I'm trying to get this story rolling.. anyway, I'm sure you all guess who this mysterious stranger is, if not you're reading the wrong fic X.X<br>The chapters will get longer, I promise, and better. I'm going to see how many reviews I get each chapter, and base the lengths on that. So, the more reviews you give, the longer your chapters will be :)

Hope you liked it!  
>Be The Change You Want To See In The World x<p> 


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